Sirius Black and the Amulet of Slytherin
by Zana G. Nicholson
Summary: Sirius Black is in his first year in Hogwarts, and it's turning out to be a rollercoaster ride! PLEASE R&R I WANT LOTS OF REVIEWS!
1. A New Beginning

It was the first of September, and Kings Cross Train Station was crowded. Parents hurried along, clutching their children, who were heading for another year at boarding school. Businessmen glanced at their watches as they raced along, looking for the right platform. Stationmasters and guards strolled around, offering assistance to those who needed it. It was so busy, in fact, that not a single person noticed family after family disappearing through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.  
A young boy and an older girl hurried towards this barrier. The boy's stomach was full of butterflies, and his temper was rising. The girl wouldn't stop offering him unhelpful advice, and hissing instructions into his ear.  
  
'You're to make sure you're put in Slytherin. Auntie says so.' She shrilled, as they reached the barrier. She shoved her cousin roughly through the barrier, onto Platform 9 3/4. 'And you're to make sure to make friends with the right people because-'  
  
'Auntie says so', the boy finished, in an excellent imitation of the girl, 'just leave me alone Bellatrix, I can handle things myself.'  
  
Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. 'Remember Sirius, you're a Black. Don't let the family down.'  
  
'Wouldn't dream of it', Sirius replied sarcastically. Bellatrix glared at him, and pulled herself up to her full height. (which was still a few inches shorter than her Sirius) She was about to admonish him yet again, when a girl poked her head out the window of a carriage and shrieked 'Bella! What took you so long?'  
  
'I'm coming, Narcissa! Now, d'you see what you've done? Narcissa went ahead to hold a carriage for us, and you've dawdled so long somebody else needs to share with us! Now come on. And remember, you're to get into Slytherin, like everyone else in the family.'  
  
If there was one thing Sirius didn't want to do, it was be like everyone else in his family. 'I'd rather find a seat myself, Bellatrix.' He said firmly, 'I'd don't want everyone to think I get on with you two.' And he marched off, dragging his suitcase behind him, leaving Bellatrix looking stunned.  
  
Sirius found an empty carriage at the very front of the the Hogwarts Express. He threw himself down on a seat and closed his eyes. He was going to Hogwarts at last! Finally, he would be able to spend a large portion of his life away from his parents and his brother. He could be a proper person, instead of having to behave in a certain way because he was a member of the Black family.  
  
'Are these seats taken?' Sirius opened his eyes, and saw a boy with untidy black hair and glasses standing in the doorway, watching him.  
  
'Er, no, they're free', he said quickly, smiling. The other boy grinned and stuck out his hand. 'James Potter', he introduced himself. Sirius shook his hand. 'I'm Sirius Black.'  
  
James nodded. 'Slytherin for you then, eh?' He said, his smile fading a little, as he sat down opposite Sirius.  
  
'No', Sirius replied, a little more agressively than he meant to, 'I mean, I really don't want to be in Slytherin. I'd like to be in Gryffindor.'  
  
James' smile returned. 'So would I', he said, 'everyone in my family's been in Gryffindor-except for my great aunt, I think she was in Hufflepuff.'  
  
They talked for a while about the subjects they would be studying. James got very enthusiastic when Sirius mentioned quidditch, and a long discussion on tactics ensued. They were interrupted by a polite knock on the carriage door. A fair-haired boy with a pleasant face poked his head around the door. ' 'Scuse me', he said, 'but is either of you Sirius Black?'  
  
'I am', said Sirius, 'why?'  
  
'Well, your cousin...Narcissa, I think her name is...said she wants to talk to you before the Sorting Ceremony.'  
  
'Oh does she now?' Sirius thumped the seat beside him rather viciously. 'How do you know?'  
  
The boy shrugged. 'I was heading for the bathroom, and she stuck her head out the carriage door and started yelling at me to find you.'  
  
'Typical', Sirius sighed, 'Sorry about that. Tell Narcissa she can go and boil her head, 'cos I don't want to be in Slytherin, and I don't want to be a Black.'  
  
The boy dropped his over-polite manner. 'Get lost', he said, raising an eyebrow, 'I'm not telling her that. She'll give me her lecture on how she's a prefect again.'  
  
'Are you a first year too?' James asked interestedly.  
  
'Yup. My name's Remus. Remus Lupin. Who're you?'  
  
'James Potter. And that's Sirius Black.'  
  
Remus nodded. 'I'd better go-still haven't gone to the bathroom.' And he disappeared.  
  
'I'm going to be spending the year apologising for my relatives', Sirius said miserably, 'I just know it!'  
  
They arrived at Hogwarts late that evening, and the first years were all ushered into a small room just off the Entrance Hall.  
  
'I hear they take out your brain and study it, to decide what house you're in', said an unpleasant-looking boy, with greasy black hair and a hooked nose.  
  
James snorted. 'That's rubbish!'  
  
The greasy-haired boy spun around and glared at him. 'How would you know?' He sneered.  
  
'Because my parents told me what they do!' James retorted, 'you just have to put on a hat. That's all!' The boy eyed him with a look of loathing. Both James and Sirius returned the glance. The argument was halted at that point, as a severe looking woman with jet-black hair swept back in a bun entered the room. 'Good evening, first years', she said loudly, 'my name is Professor MacGonagall. Now the Sorting Ceremony is very important. It will determine what house you will be in for the rest of your schooldays-what quidditch team you will play for, what house you will win points for, where you sleep, and who your classmates will be will all be revealed to you this evening. Now, follow me, please.'  
  
The first years filed into the Great Hall. Hundreds of students stared up at them, whispering. The teachers on the platform behind them nodded pleasantly as they passed. Sirius swallowed hard. Professor MacGonagall set an ancient-looking grubby wizard's hat on a stool at the top of the line. There was complete silence in the Hall. Then suddenly, a rip at the hat's brim opened, and a voice began to sing:  
  
Look at me closely, pupils dear  
  
And tell me what you see  
  
A tattered, grubby ancient hat,  
  
One of a kind-that's me!  
  
I'm here to look inside your brain  
  
And see where your strength lies  
  
I'm all-seeing, honest and truthful-  
  
From me, you cannot hide.  
  
Into Gryffindor you will go  
  
If there is bravery in your heart  
  
To Ravenclaw I'll soon send you  
  
If I find you very smart  
  
The cunning and the wily  
  
I will pass to Slytherin  
  
To Hufflepuff shall go the ones  
  
Whose patience shall never wear thin.  
  
Fear not! Be calm! I will not bite!  
  
Just put me on and wait  
  
I'll take a quick peek and then decide  
  
Which house will be your fate!  
  
There was a storm of clapping as the hat completed its song. Professor MacGonagall unrolled a scroll of parchment, cleared her throat and said 'Appleby, Patrick.' A small boy with blond hair stumbled forwards, and jammed the hat onto his head. There was a moment of silence and then- 'HUFFLEPUFF!' Bellowed the hat. A table on the left cheered wildly, and Patrick hurried over to them.  
  
'Black, Sirius.' Sirius's heart was in his mouth. He caught sight of Narcissa and Bellatrix staring wildly at him, as though willing him to be put in Slytherin. He steeled himself, and marched forwards. Tentatively, he placed the hat on his head, and sat down. He jumped, as a tiny voice began to speak. 'Hmmm...difficult one...oh, I do love the ones with a mixture in them! You're brave, no doubt about that, yes...generous, very clever, and a possibility of cunning...hmmm...Oh, I suppose we'll go with GRYFFINDOR!'  
  
Sirius jumped up and threw the hat on the stool, beaming with delight. He saw Narcissa and Bellatrix glaring at him, but he couldn't care less. He bounded off the platform, and raced across the cheering Gryffindor table, where a tall, red-haired boy wearing a prefect badge made room for him. Sirius looked up at James, who gave him a thumbs up, grinning. Sirius didn't really notice much of the Sorting after that. He was quite pleased to see that Remus Lupin also got into Gryffindor, and delighted when James Potter placed the hat on his head and it roared 'GRYFFINDOR!' at once. He clapped James on the back, and they watched in satisfaction as 'Snape, Severus', the greasy-haired boy, was placed in Slytherin.  
  
'Might've known', James commented, looking at Severus Snape with an expression of disgust. Sirius nodded, and clapped for 'Turner, Sally', as she was placed in Gryffindor too. And as he looked around the table at the other Gryffindors, he felt a surge of happiness and pride fill him. It looked like his first year was going to be a good one. 


	2. Being Disowned

'Sirius! Sirius Black!' The shriek echoed around the stone corridor, making everyone stop and turn. Sirius groaned. He had hoped to make it to the common room without being spotted. But alas, Bellatrix was charging down the corridor at him, screeching like a banshee.  
  
'How dare you?' she screamed, her eyes wild, her expression shocked and revolted. She grabbed her cousin and shook him so hard his teeth rattled. The tall red-headed prefect, who had been leading the first years to the Gryffindor tower, yelled 'Oi! Miss Black, it's a bit early in the year for you to get detention, don't you think?'  
  
Bellatrix threw him a contemptuous look, and pushed Sirius away from her violently. He hit the wall, and winced. 'You', she was seething with rage, 'you have betrayed the family! Fraternising with blood traitors and mudbloods!' She spat out the last word.  
  
'Watch your mouth', snarled James.  
  
'That's enough', the prefect said again, 'Miss Black, go to the Slytherin tower. I assure you, I'll be speaking to Professor Grappenhall about you in the morning.'  
  
But their words fell on deaf ears. 'How could you do this?' hissed Bellatrix, her hooded eyes narrowed to slits, 'you have let us all down!'  
  
'At last', Sirius took pleasure in retorting, 'I've done something right.'  
  
'What's that supposed to mean?' Bellatrix spat, advancing on him again, in a menacing manner.  
  
'I don't want to be like you!' Sirius exploded, 'I hate being a Black, I hate all your rubbish about pure-bloods and family traditions! I'm glad the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor, because it means I won't have you sticking your ugly nose into my business every hour of the day. The hat put me in Gryffindor because it saw that I'm nothing like the rest of you, and thank God for that!'  
  
There was a moment where Bellatrix stared at her cousin, too shocked to do anything. Then she slapped him, hard across the face.  
  
'Miss Black!' The prefect fumed, 'one week's detention, starting tomorrow night. And I'm sure Professor Grappenhall will deduct plenty of points from Slytherin when she hears about this. Now get lost!'  
  
Bellatrix glared at the Gryffindors. More had left the Great Hall, and stood in a crowd behind her. She was amongst enemies. 'I disown you, Sirius. You're not worthy of being a Black. Go find yourself a nice little mudblood name, because we are done with you!' And with all the dignity she could muster, considering the fact that she was purple in the face and her black hair was sticking out all sorts of strange angles, she swept past the amazed Gryffindors, and disappeared around the corner.  
  
Sirius swallowed hard. His cheek burned and stung, where Bellatrix had slapped him. He could feel the eyes of every Gryffindor present upon him. 'Come along, first years', the prefect said hurriedly, breaking the silence, 'it's getting late!'  
  
Sirius hung back, embarrassed, and ashamed to be related to a girl such as Bellatrix. He studied his shoes, allowing everybody else to pass him, ignoring their whispers and curious glances. A second pair of shoes came into view. And a third. He looked up, and saw James Potter and Remus Lupin standing in front of him. 'She's awful', Remus said quietly, 'sorry you have to be related to her.'  
  
'If she really had disowned you, you're well rid, mate', James added, grinning. Sirius' spirits lifted, and he returned the grin. Together, they hurried after the other Gryffindors.  
  
The prefect was waiting at the end of a corridor, where a portrait of a fat lady hung on the wall. 'I had to wait for you to come', he explained, 'because none of you know the password. It's odds bodkins.' The lady smiled, and the portrait swung forwards, revealing a large hole in the wall. All four boys crawled through. 'This', said the prefect with a flourish, 'is the Gryffindor Common Room.'  
  
Sirius looked around happily-the place wall full of squashy old armchairs and chintz footstools and pouffes. A fire crackled cheerfully in the hearth, and many of the students were lounging around, playing chess or gobstones. A few looked up interestedly at Sirius, but quickly lost interest.  
  
'Listen', the prefect muttered to Sirius, 'If you ever have any trouble with any of the other charming members of your family, you just let me know. Name's Arthur Weasley. This is my last year here.'  
  
Sirius nodded and smiled gratefully. 'Right, all first years, go up to your dormitories please, it's way past your bedtime!' Arthur marched briskly around the room, rounding up the first years, who groaned.  
  
'You'll be thanking me in the morning-I hear you lot have Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing in the morning', he muttered darkly, ushering the boys through the door to their dormitories, while a female prefect did likewise with the girls.  
  
There were six Gryffindor boys in all. Apart from Sirius himself, James and Remus, there was a short, mousy-haired boy named Peter Pettigrew, a cheeky- looking dark haired boy called Jed Johnson, and a quiet boy, with fair hair and a slightly dreamy expression, who said his name was Tobias Jordan. 'Hope you don't mind sharing a room with all us half-bloods and mudbloods, Black', Jed said jokingly.  
  
Sirius tried to laugh, but couldn't. 'She's my cousin. Sorry about all that stuff she was saying...'  
  
'Forget about it', James interrupted, 'we all find our families embarrassing at times.'  
  
Sirius again felt a rush of gratitude towards James and the others. He had expected them to judge him on the behaviour of his cousin, and shun him for coming from a family well known for its love of Salazar Slytherin, and its hatred of all those who were not pure-blooded.  
  
All in all, the other boys seemed pleasant, and as Sirius climbed into bed, tired but happy, he hoped that this first night was a sign of good things to come.  
  
*** 


	3. Professor Grappenhall

The following morning, Sirius was awakened by James shaking him. 'C'mon, everyone else is dressed and gone to breakfast, what did you do, take a Sleeping Potion? Get up, Sirius!'  
  
Sirius leapt out of bed, looking at the clock on his bedside table as he did so-it was quarter to nine! He quickly dressed himself, and hurried down to James, who was now waiting in the common room. They practically ran to the Great Hall. 'Thanks for waking me up', Sirius said. He had only slept so late because it had been hours before he finally fell asleep the previous night. When he had finally drifted off, his mind was filled with strange dreams, where Professor Dumbledore (whom Sirius very much liked) gave them his welcome speech and then turned into Bellatrix and told him that he was expelled, and had to leave Hogwarts at once.  
  
Professor Dumbledore struck him as a powerful, but kindly man. He had only spoken to the students very briefly, informing first years in particular that the forest in the grounds was off limits. Sirius had heard that Dumbledore himself had been in Gryffindor. He felt immensely proud as he remembered this. He slid onto the bench at the Gryffindor table, between James and Remus. He ate hungrily, examining his timetable at the same time.  
  
'Defence Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin', he read aloud, 'Potions, History of Magic, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology with Ravenclaw...not bad.'  
  
'I hear the Defence teacher is awful', Remus remarked, shoving a slice of toast into his mouth, and immediately buttering another, 'a real dragon.'  
  
'We'll soon see', James replied cheerfully, swinging his bag onto his back, and crunching on an apple, 'you two coming or what?'  
  
Defence Against the Dark Arts was held in a large classroom on the fourth floor. When James, Sirius and Remus arrived, all the Gryffindors and most of the Slytherins were already there. The latter threw Sirius dirty looks, but he couldn't have cared less. He sat down in the back row next to James.  
  
'My parents think we should be learning the dark arts, not just how to defend ourselves against them', declared one Slytherin boy in a loud voice. Sirius caught sight of Severus Snape, nodding vigorously.  
  
'They're right', he agreed, 'Durmstrang is the only school that does that, though.'  
  
'Pity', sighed a Slytherin girl. James snorted impatiently. The Slytherins all turned in their seats to look at him.  
  
'And what's your problem?' demanded the first boy, in a jeering tone.  
  
'My problem', James replied coolly, 'is Slytherins, and their small little minds, completely obsessed with the Dark Arts.'  
  
'Oh it is, is it?' Snape whipped out his wand, glaring at James.  
  
'Yeah', James followed suit, half rising from his seat.  
  
'Oh drop it, will you?' A Gryffindor girl with long, auburn hair, and startlingly green eyes said in a despairing voice, 'for goodness sake, it's the first day and people are already picking fights!'  
  
James' mouth hung slightly open. He and Snape exchanged murderous glances. Sirius was just starting to wonder whether to intervene when a tall, imposing-looking woman with long, jet black hair and cold, grey eyes swept in. 'Good morning, class', she began, in a bored tone, staring around in a most unnerving manner, 'my name is Professor Grappenhall. I will be instructing you in Defence Against the Dark Arts.' She gazed at each of them in turn, her eyes boring into them. Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine.  
  
'Although this is your first year here at Hogwarts, I will not tolerate tardiness, poor performance, bad behaviour or slackers. This is an important subject, and I expect you to treat it as such. You will not speak unless spoken to, you will do as I tell you and you will work hard. Is that understood?' She waited for a reply, tapping her foot impatiently.  
  
'Yes, Professor', came the mumbled reply. She glared around at them all, and sighed deeply.  
  
'Good. Then let us begin. Can anyone tell me the words for the most commonly used disarming spell?'  
  
Several hands went up, Sirius' among them. Professor Grappenhall's gaze rested on him. 'Name?' She asked.  
  
'Sirius Black', he replied. Her eyebrows shot up and she studied him closely.  
  
'Black, eh?' She narrowed her eyes. 'Are you related to the Head Girl?'  
  
'Narcissa?' Sirius said, 'yeah. She's my cousin.'  
  
Professor Grappenhall'd eyebrows disappeared into her hair line, but she quickly modified her look of surprise and said 'very well, Black, answer the question.'  
  
'Expelliarmus', he said, feeling distinctly uncomfortable.  
  
'Good', she said, nodding, though she now wore a sour expression on her face, 'now, I will demonstrate, then I want you all to practice the wand movement, but do not cast the spell.'  
  
The rest of the class was spent silently, with everyone waving their wands around, Professor Grappenhall snapping at those who were not doing it correctly. Jedidiah Johnson got rather carried away, and said 'Expelliarmus!' at the same moment as he waved his wand, and watched in astonishment as Professor Grappenhall's wand shot out of her hand, and landed on his desk. Professor Grappenhall pursed her lips, and walked slowly across to Jed, who swallowed hard. She whipped her wand up from the desk, and leaned over, so her face was only inches from his. 'What did I say about obeying my orders?' She hissed, 'detention tonight, eight o'clock.'  
  
'Dictator', Sirius muttered under his breath, as the bell rang for the end of class. Professor Grappenhall whirled around.  
  
'What was that, Black?' She snapped, having heard him perfectly.  
  
'Nothing', Sirius said in a small voice.  
  
'I think you need a detention too, to focus your mind, and show you how things work around here', she said coldly, 'I'll see you at eight o'clock also.'  
  
And from that moment, Sirius was the enemy of Professor Grappenhall. Little did he know that he was going to regret that comment for the rest of the year. 


	4. Gryffindor Versus Slytherin

First of all I want to thank all the people who gave me good reviews for this story, I'm so glad you guys like it! :-)  
  
DISCLAIMER: Forgot to do this earlier-I don't own or have any rights to Harry Potter or any of the other characters created by Joanne Kathleen Rowling -more's the pity!  
  
Several days passed, and the first years began to get used to the school and its grounds. Professor Grappenhall continued to run her classes as though she were in charge of a concentration camp. Sirius and Jed were given the task of cleaning the floor of the Great Hall and Entrance Hall for their detention. Several times, Slytherins marched purposefully across the clean floor, leaving muddy footprints all over it, but with Professor Grappenhall watching, neither boy could retaliate, or use magic to clean the floor again.  
  
All in all, Sirius enjoyed classes- Professor MacGonagall was strict, but fair and kind. Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, was friendly, and earned a special place in their hearts when she informed them that for their first few weeks, she would not set them any homework. Professor Flitwick, the Charms instructor, was a tiny man, with a squeaky voice, who seemed to be immensely popular among his pupils. The Potions master was a middle-aged man with a steel-grey goatee, named Ralph Mordecai, and last but not least, the astronomy teacher was a young man, in his first teaching post-Professor Bloom.  
  
It was seven o'clock on Friday evening, and James, Sirius and Remus were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Remus was doing his Potions homework ( 'we can copy it off you, can't we?' James had asked pleadingly), Sirius was reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages', and James was polishing his broom- a Skysailor 5000.  
  
'Listen up, everyone!' someone shouted from behind them. Everybody in the common room turned to look at a tall, skinny boy with a crew cut who was standing on an armchair in the middle of the room. He nodded, satisfied that people were listening. 'For those of you who don't know me', he began in arrogant tones, 'I'm Paul MacNally, quidditch captain. Now, our team is looking for a seeker and a chaser this year, and I want to let you know that trials will be held tomorrow after lunch, on the quidditch pitch. First and second years needn't bother turning up, I will only take players from third year and above.' The boy jumped down from the armchair, and people resumed their conversations.  
  
'That's not fair!' James cried, 'I want to be seeker!'  
  
'Well, you'll have to wait 'til you're in third year, won't you?' Remus replied mildly.  
  
'No way', James said determinedly, 'I'm going to try out. Will you try out too, Sirius?'  
  
Sirius thought for a moment, then shook his head. 'I'm not much good at seeking or chasing', he replied, 'I like Beater best.'  
  
James sighed heavily and turned to Remus. 'What about you, Ray? Will you come?'  
  
Remus looked up, and shook his head. 'I've never been much good at quidditch', he said quietly.  
  
Sirius studied Remus; he was quite pale and tired-looking. 'Are you all right?' He asked concernedly.  
  
Remus nodded and said rather quickly 'of course, why wouldn't I be?'  
  
Sirius shrugged. 'You're even quieter than usual, that's all.'  
  
James groaned loudly. 'I'm going to bed', he announced, looking sulky, 'to think of a way to try out for seeker. You two coming?'  
  
'I've got to finish this', Remus responded, yawning, 'I won't be long.'  
  
Sirius stood, and with one more curious glance at Remus, followed James to the dormitory. 'What're you planning?' He asked interestedly. James was standing in front of the full-length mirror in the dormitory, his glasses in his hand, staring at his reflection. He shot Sirius a wry grin in the mirror. 'D'you think I could pass for a third year?' He asked, trying to make his hair lie flat, and failing miserably.  
  
Sirius studied James briefly, then said 'Yeah, s'pose you could. You're not really tall enough, though.' James was several inches shorter than Sirius. He made a face. 'Well, I dunno how to make a Growing Potion, so there's not an awful lot we can do about my height.' He collapsed backwards onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling, screwing up his eyes, trying to think of a plan. Sirius changed into his pyjamas, and continued reading 'Quidditch Through the Ages'.  
  
'Hey, James, what team d'you support?' He asked, glancing up from his book. There was no answer. Sirius saw that James had fallen asleep fully clothed, still clutching his glasses in his hand. He laughed to himself, and couldn't help wondering what hair-brained scheme James had settled on using to get in to the trials.  
  
Sirius was walking along a dark, narrow path, alone. 'Sirius Black, what have you done to us!' came a wail, from somewhere to his left. It was his mother's petulant voice. 'You have ruined the family name! You are a disgrace to the name of Black!'  
  
'Sirius, I disown you!' Bellatrix shrieked again and again. Sirius groped around blindly, trying to find his relatives, because he knew he did not want to be on that path by himself. He tried to step off it, into the darkness, but he couldn't. The reproaches and scoldings from his various faily members were getting louder, and more persistent. Then, through the cacophony, Sirius heard one, unfamiliar voice, say pleadingly, 'the amulet...I need it...please!'  
  
'What amulet?' He shouted, staring wildly around for the owner of the voice.  
  
'Amulet? What're you on about, ya dozy idiot!'  
  
Sirius sat bolt upright, wide awake and breathing hard. Remus was sitting on his own bed, which was opposite Sirius', watching his friend anxiously.  
  
'What amulet?' Remus repeated his question, 'what are you talking about?'  
  
'Wish I knew', Sirius muttered, running a hand through his hair, 'what time is it?'  
  
'Eight o'clock. James fell over my suitcase on his way out of the room about fifteen minutes ago. Woke me up.'  
  
'Where was he off to?' Sirius rubbed his eyes vigorously, and rolled out of his bed.  
  
'He said something about quidditch.' Remus shrugged. 'Wanna see what he's on about?'  
  
Sirius nodded, and dressed quickly. The two boys hurried down to the common room, where they found James standing by the window, talking to a tall, sandy-haired boy with freckles. James spotted his friends, and waved.  
  
'Adam here is on the quidditch team', he informed them as they approached, 'he says MacNally-the captain-is in sixth year, and doesn't really know anyone from the years below him. He might recognise me from the Sorting, though, so I'll just leave my glasses here, and try and make my hair look different.'  
  
'If you take off your glasses, you won't be able to see anything', Remus pointed out sensibly.  
  
'Adam has a phial of pretty good Sight Strengthening Potion, he said he'll let me have it, for fifteen galleons', James explained, his eyes shining with excitement. He turned to Adam. 'D'you promise you won't say a word to MacNally, 'til after the trials at least?'  
  
Adam nodded and grinned. 'Cross my heart and hope to die. I hope you're as good as you seem to think you are! It'll put MacNally in his place if you make the team-he thinks first and second years are useless.'  
  
'Well, I'm gonna show him just how wrong he is', James replied grimly, handing Adam a pouch full of galleons.  
  
James spent the whole morning chewing his finger nails and polishing his broom. 'You're going to wear out the wood', Sirius remarked, as James scrubbed at a non-existent stain with a dirty rag. The three boys went down to lunch together. Adam winked at James, and whispered something to the girl who was sitiing next to him. She looked up interestedly, and grinned over at James, who smiled nervously. Sirius tried to coax him to eat some Yorkshire pudding, but James went slightly green, and shook his head.  
  
Adam seemed to have passed the word on to a lot of people, about James' plan to try out, because Sirius noticed a lot of people glancing at James curiously. A few patted him on the back, and wished him good luck. 'You'll get on', Sirius reassured him, 'don't worry about it.'  
  
James looked around at the large number of Gryffindors who were standing on the pitch with him. He swallowed hard. Sirius and Remus waved, and headed for the stands. A few Slytherins had turned up to jeer at the Gryffindor quidditch team-Sirius spotted Bellatrix, Narcissa and Snape amogst them.  
  
'Of course', Bellatrix said, in a very loud voice, 'Slytherin are looking for beaters this year.'  
  
Sirius felt anger bubbling away inside him. Why couldn't she just leave him alone for a while? He would rather never get to play quidditch again than play for Slytherin.  
  
Paul MacNally strode onto the pitch, and began to issue instructions to his team. He asked the potential Seekers and Chasers to form two seperate lines. Then he took to the sky (he himself was a beater, along with Adam) with his team, and began to play a game. Every few minutes, he would dismiss the players currently trying out, and call forwards two others.  
  
Sirius saw that James had ended up very last in queue, and was gripping his broom so tightly that his knuckles were white. The current Seeker was atrocious-at one point, the Snitch was hovering only inches from his left knee, and he didn't notice. Sirius could see James was itching to get up there and show them all how it was really done.  
  
'You stink!' Bellatrix cackled, pointing at one of the Chasers and laughing. 'Why did you even bother to come out here?'  
  
'Shut up, Bellatrix!' Sirius couldn't take it anymore. Remus placed a warning hand on his friend's shoulder, but Sirius had no intention of doing anything else. He merely glared at his cousin, why returned his glance with a look of contempt.  
  
At last, James' turn came. He kicked off the ground, and shot into the sky. He flew high above the stands, turning his head this way and that, searching for the tiny golden, winged ball. He was superb. MacNally and the rest of the team were all exchanging glances of delight. None of the Seekers had stood out, and MacNally had just about given up hope of finding a decent player, when along came this boy, whom he had never seen before, who flew with fantastic style and skill.  
  
Within minutes, James had caught the Snitch. The Slytherins stared at him, angry that he had flown so well. Sirius noticed that Bellatrix was watching James intently, as though trying to recall something, but the thought barely registered, as he and Remus leapt up and cheered wildly for their friend. James clutched the Snitch tightly, and beamed. MacNally blew his whistle, and called everyone down to the ground. Sirius and Remus left the stands and walked over to the group, anxious to hear what the captain had to say.  
  
'Well done, all of you', MacNally said, looking around, and smiling. 'Most of you were good, a few were very good, and well...there were one or two exceptional players among you.' His gaze rested on James, whose eyes widened. 'What's your name, kid?' MacNally asked him.  
  
'James Potter', he replied, somewhat breathlessly.  
  
'Well done, James. You're our new Seeker. Julia Cleansweep, you're the Chaser. Congratulations!'  
  
It was then that Bellatrix put two and two together. 'Hey!' She called, striding on to the pitch, 'hey you, captain! MacNulty or something, isn't it?'  
  
Paul rolled his eyes impatiently and said 'MacNally. What do you want?'  
  
'I heard you only take people from third year and above?' She phrased it as a question, with a malicious glance in James' direction.  
  
'Oh no!' Sirius moaned. He knew what she was going to do. He had never realised she would go this far, all because some hat said he should be in Gryffindor.  
  
'Yeah', MacNally said agressively, 'so?'  
  
'Well that boy', Bellatrix shrilled, pointing dramatically at James, who had frozen with shock, 'is a first year!'  
  
Paul looked from Bellatrix, to James, to his team mates. 'You play well, Potter', he said, watching the boy shrewdly, 'I haven't seen a Seeker that good in a long time.' He looked at his team again. 'I think we could bend my rules a bit, don't you?'  
  
Adam shrugged and grinned. 'They're your rules, like you said Paul. Personally, I think you'd have to be crazy to reject this kid.' The rest of the team murmured their assent. Paul turned back to James and smiled briefly. 'You're determined, you're quick, and you've got brilliant reflexes. There's no way I'd refuse to put you on the team.'  
  
Bellatrix' jaw dropped. Sirius smirked. Her neat little plan had backfired, and she didn't like it. She flounced off to join the Slytherins again, and they marched up to the school, throwing dark looks over their shoulders. Paul was speaking again. 'Right, you lot, thanks for coming. Pass the message on to all the first and second years-if they want to try out, I s'pose I should let them, but James and Julia will be very tough competition. Tell anyone who has a problem with the try-outs to come to me. Off you go.'  
  
'YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!' James whooped, releasing the Snitch, and laughing delightedly, 'Can you believe it? I GOT ON THE TEAM!'  
  
'You were brilliant', Sirius replied, chuckling at James' euphoria.  
  
'Best Seeker I ever saw', Remus praised him cheerfully.  
  
They headed back to the school, James jumping around in circles, hugging his broom, Sirius and Remus watching, amused.  
  
'That was a nasty trick to pull.'  
  
James stopped spinning, and Remus and Sirius looked up; standing, blocking their way back into the school was the large group of Slytherins. A short, stocky boy with brown hair and an unpleasant leer stood in the front, his arms folded. It was he who had spoken.  
  
'What was?' James asked, clenching his fists. The other Gryffindors, who were all making their way slowly up to the school, sped up when they saw what was going on.  
  
'You think you're so great', Severus Snape spat out, pushing to the front of the group, 'fooling them into thinking you're a third year, showing off on that broom.'  
  
'I just played like I always play. I wasn't showing off', James retorted.  
  
'Leave him alone, and let us pass', Sirius added, glaring at his cousins.  
  
'Ooh, ickle Potter has a whole twoop of loyal fwiends', Bellatrix shrieked, in a mocking, baby's voice.  
  
'What are you, his bodyguards?' Snape sneered. The Slytherins howled with laughter, and James pulled out his wand. Sirius did likewise, but Remus remained still, his face set, a frown on his face.  
  
'You're brave enough now, aren't you?' Sirius shouted at Snape, 'now you're surrounded by all your wonderful pure-blood friends! You weren't so brave the other day, when you hid in the toilet after hexing me, were you, eh?'  
  
Snape pulled out his own wand, and laughed. 'I'm not stupid enough to start a wizard's duel when I've got no back-up', he replied, 'but I wonder who'd win today?'  
  
'Would it be you three pathetic losers?' Bellatrix asked, pretending to be serious.  
  
'Or would it be us?' Queried a pale boy with white-blond hair and a pointed face, rolling his wand between his fingers.  
  
'That's enough! Snape, Malfoy, Miss Black, and all the rest of you, inside! Now!' Everyone turned and saw Arthur Weasley sprinting from the lake, looking furious, his bookbag hanging from his arm, his wand in his right hand.  
  
It was then that it happened. Sirius heard James give a yell, and shove him to the ground-a jet of yellow light had barely missed Sirius' head. James leapt to his feet. 'Attacking while our backs our turned, eh?' He roared furiously at Snape. He raised his wand. 'EXPELL-'  
  
'GLACIARE!' Snape bellowed, before James could finish the spell.  
  
The Gryffindors watched in horror as a stream of blue light hit James in the chest. Ice coated his whole body, freezing him where he stood. Sirius let out a yell of rage, and, dropping his wand, ran at Snape. Remus tried to hold him back, but was pushed violently away, as Sirius bashed into Snape, knocking him off his feet.  
  
'Coward!' He shouted, whacking the other boy furiously. Snape raised his wand, but Sirius slammed his fist down on Snape's hand, causing him to yell in pain, and drop the wand. They fought viciously, and nobody was quite sure what to do. The Gryffindor quidditch team egged Sirius on, while Arthur Weasley aimed a stunner at Snape, but missed by an inch or so.  
  
'Stop it! Sirius Black, get off him now, come on, this won't help anything, gte off him!' Arthur yelled.  
  
'Lift the curse yourself', Lucius Malfoy drawled, his lip curling.  
  
'I don't know how', Arthur looked helplessly around, 'I never saw it before.'  
  
'That's because it's not something they'd teach us at this rubbish school!' Snape choked, as Sirius had a go at throttling him.  
  
'Lift-the-curse-or-I'll-put-you-in-the-hospital-wing', Sirius grunted, banging Snape's head off the ground with each word. Snape looked rather dazed, and Paul MacNally remarked 'I think he'll be heading there anyway.'  
  
'Right', Arthur shouted, 'I'm sorry, Sirius, I'm going to have to- EXPELLIARMUS!'  
  
Sirius and Snape were blasted apart by the force of the spell. Sirius scrambled quickly to his feet, and would have attacked Snape again, if Remus and Adam hadn't caught him by the arms and held him back.  
  
'Take the curse off', Sirius snarled.  
  
'No', Snape was barely able to sit up-he had two black eyes, a bloody nose, a split lip, and a very, very sore head.  
  
'Snape, I'm ordering you to take the curse off James', Arthur thundered. Sirius looked at his friend-he was frozen solid, a look of fear on his face.  
  
'Severus, if you lift the curse, I will see to it that you are suspended', Narcissa spoke for the first time.  
  
'You can't do that!' Arthur looked scandalised. The Gryffindors shouted abuse at the Slytherin students.  
  
'I can. I'm Head Girl. I'm above you. Isn't that right, Lucius?' Narcissa said coolly.  
  
'She's right you know', Lucius Malfoy answered smugly.  
  
For a moment, it looked like all hell was going to break loose. A few of the older Slytherin boys cracked their knuckles menacingly. Several Gryffindors reached for their wands.  
  
'What on earth is going on here?' Professor MacGonagall shoved past the knot of Slytherins at the door, and stared down: She looked from the frozen form of James, to the moaning Snape, to Remus and Adam restraining Sirius, to Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, who were eyeballing each other. Her jaw dropped. She began to tremble with rage. 'What happened?' She demanded.  
  
'Snape attacked James, and refused to lift the curse.' Sirius growled.  
  
'Sirius beat Severus up, Professor', Bellatrix said quickly.  
  
'And the Head Girl just ordered Snape to leave the curse on Potter', Arthur said, glaring at Malfoy.  
  
Professor MacGonagall looked thoroughly shocked. 'Seventy points from Slytherin, Mr Snape', she said coldly, 'and fifty from Gryffindor. Incendiare!'  
  
The ice that surrounded James melted, and he fell flat on his face, coughing and choking.  
  
'How dare you all behave in such a manner', hissed MacGonagall, 'be thankful I was so lenient. Now go, quickly, to your common rooms. You're not to leave them again today. No, Mr Malfoy, not even for dinner. And you!'  
  
She turned to Narcissa, an expression of cold fury on her face. 'You have abused your position as Head Girl', she said, 'thirty points from Slytherin, and a trip to Professor Grappenhall's office for you. Off you go. Mr Potter, are you all right?'  
  
James was finding it difficult to breathe. 'Yes, Professor', he gasped.  
  
'Good. Now come along, inside all of you! Mr Snape, go to the hospital wing.'  
  
*** 


	5. The Black Sheep

Sirius, James and Remus made for their usual seats by the fire. Sirius noticed that James was shivering violently. 'You okay, mate?' He asked concernedly.  
  
'F-f-freezing', James breathed, closing his eyes, and inching his chair closer to the fire.  
  
'I thought that spell might have after effects', Arthur commented grimly, 'those potent ones usually do.'  
  
'Here', the first year girl with auburn hair handed James her scarf, and added, 'you played really well. Eva and I were watching.'  
  
James nodded his thanks (his teeth were chattering too much for him to speak) and wrapped the scarf around his neck.  
  
A pretty, dark-haired girl came over. 'You were really brave', she said to Sirius, gazing at him admiringly, 'defending your friend like that.'  
  
'I was an idiot', Sirius shook his head, 'I lost Gryffindor fifty points.'  
  
'It was worth it, to see that annoying first year's face rearranged', Adam remarked cheerfully, 'you all right, James?'  
  
James opened his eyes briefly, and nodded slightly. An icy cold had filled him, inside and out, when Snape cast that spell, and he was finding it difficult to shake off. 'Thanks for the scarf...er...'  
  
'Lily', the girl replied, 'Lily Evans.'  
  
'And I'm Eva', the dark-haired girl added, smiling.  
  
There was a tap at the window. Adam strode over, and opened it; a large, black owl flew in, dropped a letter on Sirius' lap, and flew out again.  
  
'Never saw an owl like that before', Eva commented, making a face, 'really ugly.'  
  
'Uh-oh', Sirius mumbled. The letter on his lap was in a red envelope, and was starting to smoke at the corners.  
  
'Uh-oh is right', Adam said, sticking his finger in his ears, walking quickly away.  
  
'A howler', Sirius said miserably, 'from mum.'  
  
There was no avoiding it. He ripped open the envelope, and a high-pitched, nasal shriek rang out.  
  
'SIRIUS BLACK, YOU ARE A DISGRACE! AN UTTER DISGRACE! GRYFFINDOR! HOW COULD YOU DO IT TO US? YOUR POOR FATHER BECAME QUITE ILL WHEN HE HEARD THE NEWS. WE ALWAYS KNEW ARAMINTA HAD BEEN LUMBERED WITH AN ODD CHILD WHEN ANDROMEDA WAS BORN, BUT WE NEVER EXPECTED IT TO HAPPEN IN OUR OWN IMMEDIATE FAMILY! WHAT SORT OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU SETTING FOR REGULUS? I WANT YOU HOME AT CHRISTMAS, WE'RE GOING TO SORT YOU OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL!'  
  
The letter burst into flames. Sirius sat on the edge of his seat, stunned. James, who was still shivering violently, gave him a sympathetic look.  
  
'Andromeda?' Adam (who, despite having his fingers in his ears, had been unable to avoid hearing Sirius' mother) said, looking puzzled, 'Is she a relative of yours?'  
  
'Yeah', Sirius said quietly, 'my cousin. Do you know her?'  
  
'We all knew her', Paul said, 'her parents gave her a horrible time when she got into Gryffindor. Disowned her and everything.'  
  
Sirius nodded silently. He remembered seeing his father blast Andromeda's name off the Black family tapestry years ago. Himself and Andromeda. The black sheep of the Black family.  
  
'Sorry Sirius.' Eva said softly.  
  
'What're you apologising for?' He asked, startled.  
  
'Sorry you're getting such a hard time because of the kind of person you are.' Eva looked truly upset.  
  
'No offence, mate, but your mum sounds like a horrible old hag.' Remus remarked.  
  
'She is', Sirius agreed. Suddenly, he felt exhausted. Snape had given him quite a few bruises, but he certainly wasn't going to admit that. 'I'm going to bed', he announced.  
  
'M-me too', James felt a little warmer now, and had stopped shivering. He smiled gratefully at Lily, and handed her scarf back to her.  
  
'It's only four o'clock in the afternoon', Adam was surprised, 'bit early to go to bed, don'tcha think?'  
  
'I don't care', James and Sirius said together. The quidditch try-outs felt a long long time ago to Sirius. They trudged up to their dormitory, where they found Jed, Tobias and Peter talking animatedly. Sirius groaned inwardly; he had hoped to go to bed without having to talk to anyone else.  
  
'We heard the Howler', Jed told him, 'sorry about that. God, James, you look awful what happened?'  
  
So James gave an abbreviated version of the events of the past few hours to the trio. Peter's eyes widened as he listened. 'I told you we should've gone down!' He moaned, 'see what we missed by staying up here?'  
  
'Believe me, it was a lot less fun being there', James yawned, and got into bed, 'now shut up, or go to the common room.' Jed, Tobias and Peter got up, and left the room. Sirius fell into bed, his mother's last words echoing his mind: '...at Christmas, we're going to sort you out once and for all!'  
  
With this ominous phrase reverberating around his brain, Sirius fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, scure in the knowledge that nothing else could go wrong...today, at least. 


	6. Snivellus

The enmity between Slytherin and Gryffindor was now greater than ever. No students from these houses could pass each other without first casting a curse or hex. Madam Pomfrey, who ran the hospital wing, had several casualties to deal with every single day. Professor Grappenhall was more unpleasant to Gryffindors than before, and MacGonagall treated Slytherins likewise. Snape had spent a few days in the hospital wing, kicking up a fuss about the injuries Sirius had inflicted on him, while Sirius limped around, refusing to admit that Snape had hurt him at all.  
  
'Will you stop lying? You're barely able to put any weight on that ankle at all!' Remus pointed out, as Sirius practically hopped into Defence Against the Dark Arts, several days later.  
  
'It's fine', Sirius said through gritted teeth. The truth was he had fallen heavily on his ankle when he charged at Snape, and it had swollen to the size of a balloon, and turned purple. James raised an eyebrow, a disbelieving look on his face. Just then, Snape entered, and took a seat two rows in front of Sirius.  
  
Snape had made a point of hanging around in large groups with other Slytherins, so as not to be caught alone. Sirius' fury and strength had surprised and humiliated him, however much the other Slytherins congratulated him for taking on the other first years, and cursing James so excellently.  
  
'Hey Potter', drawled one of the Slytherin boys (a sharp-faced boy with beady eyes, called Nott), 'you warmed up yet?'  
  
This feeble jeer provoked howls of laughter from all the Slytherins. Everybody turned to look at James, who merely stared at Nott, in an unnerving manner. There was an unpleasant silence in the classroom.  
  
'I believe you should be facing my desk, class, and not gawping at our arrogant little attention-seeking friend in the back row', a cold voice proclaimed. Professor Grappenhall had entered the room unnoticed, and stood behind her desk, her arms folded.  
  
'Afternoon, Professor Grappenhall', the class murmured.  
  
'Open your books, please. I wat you to study chapter one-Elementary Wand Movement for Curses. In complete silence.' She snapped out the orders, and everybody obeyed at top speed. Grappenhall began to prowl around the room, handing back their homework (a summary of how, and on what occasions to use the Disarming Spell)  
  
'Fail', she said icily, tossing Sirius' roll of parchment onto his desk carelessly. It rolled off the other side, and landed on the floor. As Sirius bent to pick it up, he heard her say loudly to James, Remus and Eva, 'fail, fail and fail! Really, what is the matter with Gryffindor first years?'  
  
Sirius glanced over the homework again. He had got every single thing right! 'Professor Grappenhall', he began. The woman whipped around and silenced him with a single, icy glance. 'Only speak when spoken to', she said softly, 'one of my rules, Mr Black, I suggest write that out five thousand times for homework tonight.'  
  
Sirius gaped at the injustice of this. He looked at James, who appeared to be equally shocked. Grappenhall had moved on to the Slytherins, who were sniggering. 'Excellent work Severus, top marks.' She praised Snape, who smiled, and took his parchment from her.  
  
'Severus? Snivellus, more like.' Sirius said loudly, unable to stop himself. remus and James groaned softly. Lily buried her face in her hands. Peter Pettigrew let out a long, low, whistle.  
  
'Black, what is it about you?' Professor Grappenhall was advancing on him once more, 'you're not one bit like your cousins. When I heard you were to begin school this year, I had high hopes for you. You're the first ever Black not to make it into Slytherin, and you seem intent on causing trouble. Is that because you resent these others, for being placed in Slytherin, while you were banished to Gryffindor?'  
  
This, everyone knew, was out of line. Sirius took a deep breath. He was already in so much trouble, what difference could it make? 'I'm not the first Black not to be in Slytherin. My cousin Andromeda was in Gryffindor too. Just because everyone disowned her doesn't mean she no longer exists!' The words flowed out of him. He could hear himself speaking, and couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. 'And why would I want to be in Slytherin?' He ranted on, 'I'd probably have killed myself if I had to share a dormitory with that slimeball.' He jabbed a finger at Snape.  
  
Professor Grappenhall seemed to be swelling with rage. She stared at Sirius, who gazed back defiantly. 'I think a week of detention is on order', she said angrily, 'scrub every toilet in this school, with your bare hands, and another twenty thousand lines of "I must not lash out irrationally." And oh yes, thirty points from Gryffindor.'  
  
To Sirius' great relief, the bell rang, and class was dismissed. He didn't trust himself not to say anything else to her. She swept out of the room, followed by the Slytherins, who laughed nastily at Sirius.  
  
He sat transfixed, astonished that he had said all those things. He felt James watching him. 'I'll do half the lines for you', his friend said, 'she had no right to speak to you like that.'  
  
'We'll all do some lines', Peter butted in, 'you should report her to MacGonagall for that.'  
  
'We'll help with the toilets too', Remus added loyally, 'and good on ya, talking to her like that.'  
  
*** 


	7. The Hero and the Cloak

That evening, Sirius was hailed as some kind of hero in the Gryffindor common room.  
  
'That old hag deserved everything she heard from you!' Adam looked positively delighted, 'she's been the bane of my existence for five years now!'  
  
'Nice one, Sirius!' Eva's sister Julia cried, giving him a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and smiling.  
  
'Nobody else would've had the guts to do that!' Added a boy, whom Sirius did not know.  
  
By the end of the evening, Every person in the common room had done a few hundred lines for Sirius. Remus, James and Peter accompanied him to start cleaning the toilets. He felt enormously grateful that he had such good friends, and even felt able to ignore the taunts and jeers of any Slytherins who happened to be passing.  
  
Two weeks passed without incident. Sirius managed to avoid getting into any more trouble with Professor Grappenhall, although many times she tried to goad him into a temper. He was beginning to feel more relaxed, and enjoyed school more.  
  
James had quidditch practice three evenings a week-the first match, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, would take place in the middle of October, and Paul MacNally was frantic to win. One evening, after a long and muddy quidditch practice, James collapsed into a chair next to Sirius and groaned loudly.  
  
'MacNally's a slave driver' he announced to no one in particular, 'I don't NEED to practice, I can play fine as things are.'  
  
'Mmmm.' Sirius, busy studying his Transfiguration book, wasn't really listening. Peter, however (who had recently taken to hanging around with the trio) looked up and said 'you ARE brilliant. I don't think you need to train either.'  
  
'Don't go making his head any bigger than it is', Remus grunted, glancing up at James and grinning.  
  
James shifted restlessly in his chair. 'I want to DO something', he declared, 'not just study and play quidditch. There has to be more to this school than that.'  
  
'I can play gobstones with you, if you want', Peter offered obligingly. James dismissed the offer with a wave of his hand.  
  
'I want to do something exciting, something memorable', he explained. His eyes brightened, and he sat up straight. 'Why don't we explore?'  
  
Sirius heard this, and snapped his book shut instantly. Remus did the same. 'I've heard a load of stories about secret passageways and tunnels in this place', Sirius remarked, 'it could be fun.'  
  
'We'd be caught, though', Peter looked doubtful, 'Filch and that spooky cat of his would get us suspended.'  
  
James leaned forwards and whispered 'not if they can't see us.' Without another word, he jumped up, and beckoned for the others to follow. He ran up to the dormitory, checked that Jed and Tobias were fast asleep, and pulled a package out from under his bed.  
  
'It came this morning', he informed them, in hushed tones, 'I got them to deliver it very early, before the morning post, 'cos I didn't want everyone seeing it downstairs.' Gently, he pulled the brown paper off the soft package. Sirius, Peter and Remus all gasped.  
  
'An invisibilty cloak?' Sirius felt excited, 'I can't believe it! These things cost a fortune!'  
  
'I've been doing odd-jobs at home, and even got a Muggle job, delivering their newspapers, to pay for it', James whispered proudly, 'it's brilliant. It's big, so it'll probably just about cover all four of us.'  
  
'Great! Let's go!' Peter was trembling with excitement.  
  
James shook his head ruefully. 'Not tonight, Peter', he said, 'we want to plan it properly. Organise things. How about next week-end?'  
  
'Okay', Sirius was enthusiastic.  
  
'Sure!' Peter looked delighted.  
  
Remus remained silent.  
  
'What about you, Ray, are you in?' James asked impatiently.  
  
'Course I am', Remus said quickly, 'it's just...I might not be around next week-end.'  
  
'Why not?' Sirius asked curiously.  
  
'It's my Mum', Remus mumbled, 'she's sick. I want to go visit her.'  
  
'Oh', James said, 'sorry, Ray. All right then, but you'll come the next time, won't you?'  
  
'Definitely', Remus looked eager.  
  
'Excellent', James beamed around at his friends, 'Saturday night it is then.' 


	8. The Voice in The Dark

Saturday morning dawned, cloudy but calm. James had quidditch practice in the morning, so when Sirius woke up, he was already gone. He padded across the room, and prodded Remus in the shoulder.  
  
'Ray!' He hissed, 'get up! I take it you don't have to go to your mother after all?'  
  
Remus opened his eyes, then squeezed them shut again and groaned. 'What're you talking about?' He asked, yawning widely, 'what did you say about my Mum?'  
  
'I said it looks like you'll be able to come with us tonight', Sirius repeated impatiently.  
  
Remus went red, and swallowed hard. 'Umm, I might be leaving this evening', he replied hesitantly, 'so I'm still not sure whether I'll be able to come.'  
  
Sirius eyed his friend closely, then shrugged. 'Fair enough. You coming to breakfast?'  
  
Sirius and Remus were about to get up from the table, when James staggered in, red and perspiring, clutching his broom in his hand.  
  
'What's the matter, Potter?' Lucius Malfoy called from the Slytherin table, 'quidditch too tough for you to handle? I always thought you looked like a wimp.'  
  
'He's a prefect!' Remus looked aghast, 'he can't say stuff like that!'  
  
James glared at the Slytherins, and collapsed onto the bench next to Sirius. 'You two ready for tonight?' He asked in a low voice, wiping his forehead with a napkin.  
  
'What're you up to tonight?' the rest of the quidditch team had entered, and Adam had overheard James' question.  
  
'Nothing', James replied nonchalantly, 'just gonna ask Madam Pince to let us have a look in the Restricted Section of the library.'  
  
'You've got no chance', Adam replied, raising an eyebrow, 'you're only puny first years. James, Paul said to remind you we've got practice on Monday morning at seven o'clock.'  
  
James groaned, and banged his head off the table. Adam stole a slice of toast from Sirius, waved cheekily, and sauntered out of the Great Hall.  
  
'Why is Paul torturing us like this?' James moaned, 'I can't stand all this practice. I don't need it!'  
  
'Arrogant little git.'  
  
Sirius, Remus and James all twisted around in their seats to see who had spoken. Sirius sighed. It was Narcissa. She bent down to James, and narrowed her eyes. 'Because of you and your stupid little friends, I've had a warning. I only have one more chance before they give the job of Head Girl to someone else.'  
  
James smirked. 'That's not our problem.'  
  
Narcissa looked like she might hit him, and James instinctively ducked. But the Head Girl swept past them, and sat down beside Lucius, muttering darkly into his ear.  
  
'Are you sure you're related to her?' Remus asked Sirius, shaking his head in disbelief.  
  
'Give me Narcissa over Bellatrix any day', Sirius replied grimly, 'that girl is the spawn of Satan or something.'  
  
The clock struck midnight in the Gryffindor tower. It was pitch black outside, and all the Gryffindors were trailing off to bed. Only Adam Fowler, Julia Cleansweep and a few other fifth years remained, apart from Sirius and James.  
  
'Come on', James breathed, willing the fifth years to leave, 'come on, Adam, get up...'  
  
Sirius and James had agreed to stay and make sure everyone had gone to bed, before fetching Peter and Remus from the dormitory. James was tapping his foot impatiently, and chewing his finger nails, staring at the fifth years. Sirius was trying to act cool, lounging in an over-stuffed armchair, occasionally glancing at the clock, then at the group of fifth years. At last, at five minutes to one, Adam and his friends got up to leave.  
  
'Night, James...Sirius', he called, yawning, 'you should be in bed-ickle first years, it's way past your bedtime.' And he flashed them a grin, before trudging up the stairs.  
  
Sirius and James waited until they were sure all the boys had had time to get to their dormitories, and then leapt up. They hurried to their own dormitory, where they found Peter sitting up in bed, desperately trying to stay awake.  
  
'There you are!' He hissed, 'it's about time!'  
  
James looked around. 'Where's Remus?' He asked, puzzled.  
  
'He never came up here', Peter said, shrugging, 'must've gone to visit his mum I s'pose.'  
  
'It's a bit late for him to leave, isn't it?' Sirius said doubtfully, 'Saturday evening? I mean, he doesn't live very near, and he'll have to be back by tomorrow night!'  
  
'Oh, come on, don't worry about him, he can come the next time!' James held the cloak up and admired it. 'It'll fit better with three anyway. Come on you two!'  
  
James wrapped the cloak around himself and his two friends, and they cerpt out of the dormitory, and out of the common room.  
  
'Let's go down to the Great Hall, and start there.' James hissed into Sirius' ear.  
  
'What exactly are we looking for?' Sirius breathed.  
  
'Any secret passages, or hidden doors. Like I said before, Adam says the school is full of them.' James was practically running on tip-toe, so Peter and Sirius had to speed up, if they wanted to remain covered by the cloak.  
  
They reached the Great Hall without meeting Mrs Norris or Filch, the caretaker. James sealed the doors behind them with a simple Sealing Spell, and threw the cloak aside. 'We'll hear anyone who tries to get in', he assured his friends.  
  
The trio began to pace around the huge room. Sirius ran his hands along the wall, feeling for any irregularities in its structure. Peter gently tapped the walls, searching for a hollow spot, and James whispered basic spells for opening doors and windows, pointing his wand at various sections of the walls.  
  
'The Amulet...'  
  
Sirius leapt a foot in the air, and bit his lip hard to prevent himself from shouting. Neither Peter nor James had noticed. He turned his head this way and that, trying to catch the voice again. Silence greeted his ears.  
  
He had heard a voice-that same pleading voice of his dream-and again, it had spoken of an amulet.  
  
'Please...you can hear me, boy, please help me...'  
  
Sirius felt a shiver run down his spine. 'Where are you?' He hissed back.  
  
James and Peter both stopped what they were doing and stared at him. 'We're right here, Sirius', Peter replied, looking puzzled, 'what's wrong?'  
  
Sirius didn't respond. He was too busy listening to the voice, which he now realised was coming from inside his head.  
  
'Help me, boy, please...you're the only one who can...'  
  
'How?' Sirius replied aloud, 'how can I help you?'  
  
There was no reply. Sirius waited, a hand held aloft to stop James or Peter from speaking. But nothing came. After several minutes had passed, Sirius dropped his hand, and sighed. He looked at James and Peter, who were both perplexed and worried. He tried to smile, but failed miserably.  
  
'I...thought I heard something.' He lied.  
  
'Thought?' James said doubtfully, 'you sounded like you were having a conversation to me.'  
  
Sirius shook his head. 'Nope. Guess I'm just tired.'  
  
James stared at his friend, and Sirius knew he didn't believe him. He heaved a sigh of relief, when James shrugged, and with one last curious glance at his friend, continued his search for a secret passageway. Sirius did the same, but his heart was no longer in it. So when a disheartened James called a halt to the search for that night, he felt quite pleased.  
  
'I can't BELIEVE we didn't find anything', James moaned softly, 'we'll just have to try again tomorrow night.'  
  
'I don't think that's such a good idea', Peter answered nervously, 'someone's bound to notice if we're wandering around two nights in a row.'  
  
'Oh all right then', James looked cross, ' where's your sense of adventure, Peter?Well I can't do it the next night, because I have quidditch until late, and not the next night either, because of astronomy. Say Wednesday night then?'  
  
Peter nodded. James prodded Sirius, who was in a world of his own. 'Sirius, what's the matter with you?' James asked, 'you're acting weird tonight. Will you come with me on Wednesday night.'  
  
'Yeah', Sirius replied absently, 'sure.'  
  
The three boys fell into bed, disappointed and tired. The sun was creeping into the sky, when Sirius finally fell asleep, only to be plagued by dreams of a bodiless voice, pleading for help once more. 


	9. The Return of Remus

The following morning, None of the three explorers dragged themselves out of bed until eleven o'clock. Sirius could barely keep his eyes open, and kept dozing off beside the fire in the common room. James prodded him at least a hundred times with his quill. 'Sirius!' He shouted in his friend's ear, 'we have a tonne of homework to do, and Remus isn't even here to help!'  
  
Sirius sat up with difficulty, and rubbed his eyes vigorously. 'What's up, Sirius?' Peter asked quietly, 'you've been weird since that time last night, when you started talking to thin air.'  
  
'None of your business, Peter', Sirius snapped, regretting it at once. 'Sorry', he mumbled his apology, 'I'm just really tired.'  
  
In truth, Sirius was scared. He was hearing voices in his head! He was hearing somebody pleading with him, begging for help. And he wanted to help, but how could he, when he didn't know where this person was? Come to think of it, he didn't even know if it was a man or a woman!  
  
He sighed, and, in order to distract himself from thinking, asked if anyone wanted to play wizard chess.  
  
'Didn't you hear me?' James moaned, 'we have a MOUNTAIN of homework to do!'  
  
'I'll do it later', Sirius replied dismissively, 'how about you, Peter?' Peter shook his head. 'I'm going to the library in a minute', he replied, 'look up that stuff on dark wizards for Grappenhall.'  
  
'I'll play', Eva Cleansweep offered. She was sitting quite close by, talking to Lily Evans. She smiled at Sirius, and the two girls got up and came over.  
  
'Move your feet off the chair, you lazy lump!' Lily said to James, laughing. James had partly slid out of his chair, so that just his feet remained in it, and was doing his homework on the floor. As soon as Lily spoke, he moved out of the way obligingly. Lily perched herself on the arm of the chair, and Eva sat down in it, while Sirius went over to a shelf, and pulled down his own set of wizard chess.  
  
'Are you all right, Sirius?' Eva asked timidly, flicking one of her pawns forward.  
  
'Huh?' Sirius said, staring intently at the chess board, forcing himself to choose a move, and not think about the voice.  
  
Eva sighed, and folded her arms. 'It's hardly rocket science, Sirius', she remarked, 'you've only got a couple of options-it's your very first move, and you're taking ages!'  
  
'Sorry', Sirius said, hurriedly urging his knight forwards. After a while, he settled into the game, and was impressed to see that Eva was every bit as good as he was. James abandoned his homework to give Sirius advice, while Lily whispered suggestions into Eva's ear.  
  
'Check!' Sirius declared. Eva chewed her bottom lip, and pushed a few strands of dark hair behind her ear. Suddenly, her face brightened, and she made her move. Her queen attacked Sirius' knight viciously, and she grinned. 'Checkmate!' She cried, grinning, as Sirius' king plucked his crown from his head, and discarded it. James groaned. Lily clapped. Sirius smiled at Eva, who smiled back. Sirius found himself thinking about how pretty she was...  
  
'Well done, Eva', he said sincerely, 'you're really good.'  
  
Eva inclined her head graciously. 'Hard luck', she replied, giving Lily a hi-five.  
  
James rolled his eyes. 'Sirius could beat you no problem, if he wasn't knackered.'  
  
'No I couldn't', Sirius disagreed, 'Eva won fair and square.'  
  
'Oh, whatever', James yawned widely, 'anyone want to get something to eat? I'm starving.'  
  
The four first years strolled down to the Great Hall, and ate their lunch at leisure. Afterwards, James suggested that all the Gryffindor first years play a game of quidditch. Sirius, Peter, Jed, Tobias, Eva, Lily and two other girls whom Sirius did not yet know, agreed, and having collected their brooms from their dormitories, headed back down to the Entrance Hall.  
  
'...I can fly upside down, you know', James was boasting to a bored looking Lily. Sirius laughed, and was about to start teasing his friend, when he spotted Remus Lupin through the open front door.  
  
'Remus!' He yelled, speeding up, and jogging down the steps to greet him. He stopped, when he saw that Madam Pomfrey was standing next to Remus. The matron glanced from Sirius to Remus, then smiled at the latter, and hurried into the school.  
  
Sirius stared at Remus. 'Where were you?' He demanded to know.  
  
Remus was pale and ill-looking. Sirius noticed a long gash on his arm, and the shadow of a bruise on his cheek. Remus shrugged. 'I told you before. I was visiting my Mum.'  
  
'Very short visit', James remarked, having caught Remus' reply.  
  
'You all right?' Sirius asked. Remus was clearly lying-but why? What was he really doing?  
  
'What were you and Madam Pomfrey talking about?' Peter inquired curiously.  
  
'My Mum', Remus replied. Sirius could tell that he was just glad to have an excuse for being seen talking to Madam Pomfrey, 'Madam Pomfrey's interested in hearing Mum's symptoms.'  
  
'Oh right', James replied, 'okay. You wanna play quidditch with us?'  
  
Remus shook his head. 'I'm sort of tired. Didn't get much sleep last night.'  
  
'Suit yourself!' James said cheerfully, 'come on, you lot! We want to get in a good match before tea!'  
  
Sirius hung back with Remus. 'See you then', Remus said quietly, and made to go up the seps to the school. Sirius caught his arm, making Remus wince. 'Where'd you get that cut? And the bruise?' Sirius hissed, 'you can tell me, I won't let anyone else know!'  
  
Remus shrugged again, as he did so often, when an awkward question was posed. 'I fell', he answered shortly, 'I'm gonna go to the common room. Have fun playing quidditch.' And before Sirius could stop him, he had turned on his heel and disappeared into the school.  
  
Sirius stood at the bottom of the steps for several minutes, mulling things over in his head. At last, he sighed and made his way slowly down to the quidditch pitch. There were far too many mysteries going on for his liking. 


	10. The Quidditch Match

October came, and with it, the first quidditch match of the season. James was constantly on edge, chewing his fingernails and jumping when anybody spoke to him. He was terrified that he would make a fool of himself at the match, and no matter how many people told him he was the best Gryffindor Seeker in about 300 years, he still felt that way.  
  
After one more fruitless late-night expedition, Peter, Sirius, James and Remus had given up hope of finding secret passageways for the moment. James was too busy juggling schoolwork and quidditch, and Remus had other things on his mind. Sirius often found himself sitting in the common room, with only Peter for company.  
  
There was something about Peter that Sirius did not like, although he couldn't put his finger on it. Peter was obviously a sheep, with no confidence and no mind of his own, something which annoyed Sirius, who was a natural leader. Several times, he pretended to be feeling ill, just so he could go to bed and get away from Peter's gaze.  
  
And then there were the dreams. Almost every night now, Sirius dreamt of that voice, pleading from the darkness. It disturbed him, but he had no choice other than to ignore it, and hope he would some day understand it.  
  
'I'm gonna throw up.'  
  
'No you're not.'  
  
'I am. I'm gonna puke. Or maybe I'll faint. Or maybe both. Either way, Gryffindor will lose and It'll be all my fault.'  
  
'Shut up, James', Sirius was getting quite exasperated.  
  
It was breakfast time, two hours before the quidditch match was to begin. James was clutching a piece of toast so tightly that it was turning into a heap of crumbs. Sirius had never seen him look so tense.  
  
'Calm down, Potter', sneered Bellatrix, 'nobody expects you to be any good- so when you lot get trashed by Hufflepuff, we won't be surprised.'  
  
'Get lost, Bellatrix', Sirius was scowling now. Why did she always have to turn up and make things worse?  
  
James stood up abruptly, and rushed out of the Great Hall, looking distinctly green. Adam rolled his eyes.  
  
'He'll get used to playing, in time', he commented, 'the first match is always the most difficult.'  
  
'I just hope his nerves don't stop him catching the Snitch', Paul MacNally remarked, somewhat callously, Sirius thought.  
  
Sirius, Remus and Peter hurried down to the quidditch pitch soon after the team had left the Great Hall (James returned, looking rather sheepish, after about ten minutes). They chose seats high up in the stands, and watched as the rest of the school poured into the seats around them.  
  
'Hello, chaps', Arthur Weasley clapped Sirius on the back and grinned, 'anyone up for a spot of gambling on what the result will be?'  
  
'Arthur!' A shrill voice cried out his name in reproachful tones. Arthur's ears went red, and Sirius looked around; a short, red-haired Gryffindor girl, who also wore a prefect badge, was glaring at Arthur, her hands on her hips. 'I TOLD you!' She moaned, 'no gambling! Honestly, trying to lead a group of first years astray! Do forgive him, boys.'  
  
'Sorry, Molly', Arthur slipped an arm awkwardly around Molly's waist, and gave her a peck on the cheek, 'it won't happen again. Sirius, Remus, and Peter, this is Molly, my...er...girlfriend.'  
  
'She's got you well under the thumb, Arthur', Remus said cheekily, grinning. Molly made a disapproving noise, then smiled at the boys.  
  
'It's nice to meet you', she said sincerely, beaming around. She glanced sideways at Arthur and arched an eyebrow. 'Come on, Arthur, Professor MacGonagall asked us to make sure Malfoy, Lestrange and Nott don't cause any trouble.' She grabbed Arthur's arm, and pulled him away from Sirius, Remus and Peter, into the crowd.  
  
The two teams filed out onto the pitch. 'And here they are at last, the new squads, officially revealed for the first time today!' A Gryffindor fourth year boy was commentating, under the watchful eye of Professor MacGonagall. 'MacNally, Fowler, Jordan, Cleansweep, Longbottom, Spinnet aaaaaand Potter. That's the Gryffindor team, folks! And now Hufflepuff: Diggory, Jackson, Bloom, Finch, Patterson, Hogan and Gill! Madam Hooch is referee as always aaaaaaaaand....they're off!'  
  
Sirius and Remus watched in excitement as James and the rest of the players shot into the sky: fourteen scarlet and yellow blurs. James soared high above his team mates, turning his head this way and that, trying to spot the Snitch. The Hufflepuff Seeker was a strong and broad-shouldered seventh year named Amos Diggory. He and James were evenly matched in skill.  
  
'...and Hogan steals the quaffle from Julia Cleansweep, thanks to a nice bit of bludger work from Bloom', the commentator was telling the crowd, 'but oh, no! Ouch, that looked nasty...still, not technically a foul, so it's Longbottom, zooming towards the Hufflepuff hoops...he shoots, HE SCORES!!!'  
  
The Gryffindors cheered wildly, while the other three houses booed- Slytherin loudest of all. Frank Longbottom, a cheerful fourth year boy raised a fist in triumph and grinned.  
  
'He's my boyfriend!' One third year girl cried proudly, 'Frank Longbottom and I-we're going out together!'  
  
'...what's this? The new Gryffindor Seeker, who incidentally tricked his way onto the team, seems to have spotted something! Diggory sees it too- ooh, so do I! Come on lads, fight for it!' The commentator was becoming thoroughly over-excited.  
  
Sirius watched with baited breath as James and Diggory sped towards the ground, in hot pursuit of the golden winged ball. They were neck and neck...  
  
'COME ON, JAMES!' Sirius roared. The tension was too much to bear!  
  
'Potter couldn't catch a cold!' Shrieked Bellatrix, so everyone could hear.  
  
James was inching ahead...they were only thirty feet from the ground...twenty.  
  
A howl of shock rose up from the crowd. Remus gripped his seat tightly and Sirius stood up and yelled 'no!'  
  
James' broom had broken clean in two. Sirius caught the look of horror on his friend's face. He also saw the look of pleasure on Lucius Malfoy's face, as he stowed his wand back in his pocket.  
  
It was some sort of miracle. James grabbed at thin air for several seconds. He was falling to a humiliating defeat. Diggory's hand was only centimetres from the Snitch...when suddenly, it moved. James caught it in his outstretched hand, and landed on his back with a painful thump.  
  
The stadium erupted. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before! James, flat on his back on the grass, was completely stunned. Sirius vaulted over the railings, and raced onto the pitch, just as the two teams returned to earth. Sixteen helpful hands pulled him to his feet, and lifted him onto their shoulders-Sirius and Adam taking the burden.  
  
'Ha!' Paul bellowed, 'we don't even need brooms to beat the rest of you!'  
  
'Look out Slytherin!' Adam whooped.  
  
'It was Malfoy who snapped James' broom in two', Sirius murmured to Adam.  
  
'Don't worry', Adam muttered, his voice barely audible above the hysteria, 'I saw him too. He'll get what's coming to him, I promise you that.' 


	11. The Shaft

The celebrations in the Gryffindor common room that evening were like nothing Sirius had ever seen before. James was hailed as a hero, and Julia Cleansweep drew an excellent picture of him beating Lucius Malfoy to a pulp, which she brought to life with a quick wave of her wand, and hung on the wall.  
  
Adam produced two crates of Butterbeer from nowhere, and Jake Merriman, the commentator at the match, brought down two large boxes of sweets from Hogsmeade. Sirius, James and Remus were sitting in the middle of a large knot of chatting Gryffindors by the fire. Remus looked exhausted, and kept rubbing his injured arm. Sirius was desperately trying not to go asleep, in case he began to dream about the voice, and embarrassed himself in front of everyone. He stood up abruptly.  
  
'I'm going to bed', he muttered, 'well done again, Jay. I'll see you tomorrow.' And with that, he slipped past the others and headed swiftly towards the dormitory. James lunged after him, his eyes shining with excitement.  
  
'Let's go exploring again tonight, Sirius!' He hissed, 'a perfect end to a perfect day! C'mon, we can ask Remus and Pete too if you want! The rest of them'll be going to bed soon enough anyway. Pleeeeeeeease!'  
  
Sirius looked at his best friend, then glanced longingly at the dormitory door. He shivered. 'Get the invisibilty cloak, and try and encourage everyone to go to bed', he murmured in reply, 'we'll do some bloody exploring.'  
  
James grinned delightedly and clapped Sirius on the back. 'I've got a dungbomb in my suitcase', he whispered, 'just lemme tell Ray and Pete to get out of here, then I'll let it off. Meet down here in twenty minutes.'  
  
Half an hour later, the four boys crept down to the Entrance Hall, concealed beneath the invisibility cloak. James decided that they would start at the front door, and work around the ground floor, until they found a secret passageway. They didn't have to search for long.  
  
It was Sirius who found it. He was busy kicking at the stone wall, when suddenly, a hollow sound greeted his ears instead of that of his foot hitting solid rock. Remus heard it too. Their eyes widened, and Remus whispered to James and Peter to come and help. They pushed, pulled, stroked and banged on all the stones in that area. At last, James pulled out his wand and traced it around the edges of the hollow stone. The places his wand touched glowed white for a split second, then the stone-and five more above it-slid backwards, revealing a dark passage.  
  
'Lumos', they muttered in unison. Sirius licked his lips nervously. He hoped that the voice wouldn't come back-not now, when they were about to have some fun!  
  
The passageway was long and narrow, with no bends or twists at all. It did, however start to move uphill after half a mile or so. Beside him, Sirius could hear Remus' breaths coming harsh and fast. He nudged him and asked 'you okay?'  
  
'Fine', Remus gulped, trying desperately to calm his breathing down.  
  
After a long time, Sirius saw that the passage was getting wider and lighter now. The four boys sped up. Peter was whimpering, terrified that they would emerge into Professor Grappenhall's chamber or something. Sirius got very tetchy and hissed violently at Peter to shut up. They were busy arguing under their breath when suddenly-  
  
'Wow.' James breathed, stopping dead to survey what lay before them.  
  
'It's...' Remus trailed off, as words failed him.  
  
'Amazing', Peter whispered, in awe.  
  
Sirius said nothing. He just gazed, a horrible sense of realisation filling him with every second.  
  
The passageway ended in a huge, gold archway, through which could be seen a room, filled with beautiful, golden light. In the centre of the room was a glass shaft, which twinkled and shone in the light (the source of which Sirius could not see), making it almost dazzling. There was something awe- inspiring about the sight of the room, which held them all spellbound. And of the four, Sirius alone had any idea what it was.  
  
The owner of the voice was somewhere close by.  
  
And somehow, Sirius knew that there was something missing from that shaft.  
  
Something he had to find. Before it was too late. 


	12. The Plot Thickens

The following morning, Sirius and James went down to breakfast together. Sirius eyed his friend, wondering whether he would want to go back to that chamber again. But James showed no signs of wanting to discuss it at all.  
  
'James', Sirius began tentatively, as they entered the Great Hall, 'what did you think of the secret room?'  
  
James turned and looked at him blankly. 'What're you on about? We didn't find any rooms!'  
  
Sirius stared at James in disbelief. 'Stop messing about', he hissed, 'we walked for ages, then came to a golden room...remember?'  
  
James laughed, but stopped abruptly when he saw the look on Sirius' face. 'I'm worried about you, mate', he remarked, 'hearing voices, imagining secret passages-what next! Hey, Remus, do you remember us finding a secret passage last night?'  
  
Remus, whose nose was buried in the Daily Prophet, looked up, puzzled. The bruise Sirius had noticed on his cheek had developed into a black eye. 'Nope. And I think I'd remember something like that, don't you?'  
  
Sirius' jaw dropped. How could they not remember? He searched the Gryffindor table, and spotted Peter, chatting to Tobias. He hurried over, and tapped Peter on the shoulder. Peter stood up and smiled. 'What's up, Sirius?' He asked cheerfully.  
  
'D-do you remember the...secret passage last night?' Sirius whispered, with effort.  
  
Peter rolled his eyes. 'I wish. I can't BELIEVE we didn't find anything. I s'pose there might be some on one of the other floors. When did James say we'd try again?'  
  
'I dunno', Sirius mumbled, stumbling away, trying to put his confused thoughts into some order. Was he going crazy? He couldn't think of any other explanation.  
  
He clearly remembered how, after staring into the room for several minutes, James had tried to enter, but some invisble doorway prevented him. Peter and Remus had also tried, but Sirius did not. Because he was certain he would be able to enter, and was too scared to do so. They had all headed back to bed, awestruck by the room, vowing to go back as soon as they could. Now, this morning, Sirius alone remembered these events, and it frightened him.  
  
He skipped breakfast and went straight up to Professor McGonagall's classroom for Transfiguration, a plan half-formed in his mind. He pushed the door open, and was pleased to see that the professor sat behind her desk, in front of the empty classroom. She glanced up from her book and gave Sirius a small smile before looking away again. He took his seat in the middle of the classroom, and swallowed audibly. He stood up, and moved quickly to stand in front of McGonagall's desk.  
  
His teacher looked up again, one eyebrow raised quizzically. 'Can I help you, Mr Black?'  
  
Sirius studied his finger nails, and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. 'Professor', he began at last, 'do...I mean, could you...? No, I mean, have you...?'  
  
'Mr Black', McGonagall intervened, looking both impatient and amused, 'have you got a sensible question to ask, which brought you here so early this morning? Or have you just decided to make a habit of arriving fifteen minutes early?'  
  
Sirius took a deep breath and spoke. 'Do you know anything about...an amulet?'  
  
'Amulet?' McGonagall looked vaguely interested, 'my dear boy, would this be amulets in general, or a specific amulet?'  
  
'Er...' Sirius cast around for a way to tell her about the amulet without making himself sound insane. 'Er, I saw this book...it said some stuff about an amulet...and the owner of it sort of...I dunno, haunts people, if it goes missing. I think it had something to do with Hogwarts.'  
  
Minerva McGonagall was an exceptionally intelligent woman, and she could certainly tell when a twelve year old was lying to her. But she decided to answer his question, and then see if he would tell the truth.  
  
'There is a myth, yes', she replied, 'a myth which speaks of an amulet, created by Salazar Slytherin, to protect the school forever more. It is this amulet that is said to make the school impenetrable by magic of any kind-for example, nobody can apparate within Hogwarts.'  
  
'And where is this amulet?' Sirius asked, a little too swiftly.  
  
Professor McGonagall fixed him with a beady eye. 'Nobody knows. It is a myth, passed down through the generations. If it ever existed, it is doubtful that it still does today. It was a rumour started to make people feel safe, knowing there was an actual abject that would always be here to keep the school secure. A useless tale, or so most would believe. Do you enjoy reading about the obscure myths and legends of the wizarding world, Mr Black?'  
  
Sirius knew that she knew he was lying. He had the good grace to blush. 'I, er, actually, I didn't read it anywhere', he admitted, 'I heard about it.'  
  
'Ah', Professor McGonagall nodded, 'at home, was it? I'm sure your parents would be fascinated by a tale about the power of Salazar Slytherin.'  
  
Sirius was surprised at the venom with which his teacher spoke. 'D'you know my parents?' He asked.  
  
However, Professor McGonagall realised she had crossed a line. Whether Sirius liked his parents or not, she would not criticise them in front of him. He pursed her lips, and shook her head. 'No', she lied, 'I do not. But I believe they have a special, er...interest, shall we say, in the works of that great wizard. Now Black, if you'll excuse me, I need to fetch something from my office.'  
  
Pale and tight-lipped, she stood up and swept out of the room, leaving Sirius alone with his disturbed thoughts.  
  
So there was an amulet, created to protect the school. By Salazar Slytherin himself, of all people! Great, Sirius thought bitterly, I'm being haunted by the guy whose stupid house is making my life hell. But why was Slytherin talking to him? Something must have happened to the amulet.  
  
The memory of the empty glass shaft flashed before his eyes. It should not have been empty.  
  
The amulet should hang there.  
  
'What're you doing?'  
  
Sirius jumped, and turned towards the door, where Remus stood, eyeing him uncertainly.  
  
'Nothing. I just didn't feel like breakfast, so I came up here early.' Sirius lied quickly.  
  
'Oh. Right.' Remus shrugged and sat down next to Sirius. He rubbed his eyes, put his head in his hands, on the desk, and sighed quietly. He looked so ill that Sirius was terrified he would collapse.  
  
'Remus, what's the matter?' He demanded to know, 'you look awful!'  
  
'Nothing's the matter.' Remus voice was muffled by the desk.  
  
'You didn't fall, did you?' Sirius asked quietly.  
  
'Huh?' Remus jerked his head upwards, and stared at Sirius, startled.  
  
'You've been so quiet lately. And that cut...and the bruise. What's going on?'  
  
'I told you', Remus replied stubbornly, 'I did fall. Down the stairs, in fact. At home. And I'm just...worried about my Mum, that's all.'  
  
'What're you two doing up here so early? Normally, it's a challenge for you to drag yourself out of bed, Sirius!'  
  
Both Remus and Sirius jumped, and looked across to the door-James was standing there, his eyebrows raised. 'You're both actin' really shifty. What's the secret?'  
  
'I'll tell you mine if Remus tells us his', Sirius replied, scowling.  
  
'And I'm afraid that won't be happening', Remus added mildly, 'so we'll all just have to get on with things and mind our own business.'  
  
'Don't like the sound of that', James remarked.  
  
Professor MacGonagall and the rest of the class entered the room after a couple of minutes, and Sirius was able to lapse into his own thoughts. He vaguely heard instructions to turn their slugs into snails, and made a vain attempt to do so. James sighed loudly, and with a flick of his wand, completed the task.  
  
'You could've done that in your sleep', he snorted, 'what's up?'  
  
'NOTHING' Sirius replied, a little too loudly, making everyone stare at him.  
  
He was seeing things, and hearing things. He was being ignored by his entire family. His Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher abominated him, and all the while, the prospect of returning home at Christmas hung over him like a death sentence. Life was definitely going downhill. 


	13. Betrayal

For a while after Sirius had discovered the secret room, life jogged along quite peacefully. To his intense relief, the voice stopped pleading for help, and he even began to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing. He took the constant abuse from Bellatrix and the other Slytherins, often giving as good as he got. Professor Grappenhall, although always nasty to him, had to admit that he was rather good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. In fact, the only thing that was really bothering him was Remus. At Hallowe'en and at the end of November, Remus had again disappeared, for three nights on both occasions. After Hallowe'en, he returned with fresh bruises and cuts.In November, he developed a limp. Sirius wasn't the only one to notice; Peter also began to question Remus about his health. James, on the other hand, was too busy with quidditch to notice anything about anyone.  
  
James' lack of interest in those around him had not escaped the attention of some of the other first years.  
  
'There he goes again', Lily remarked, watching over book as James dashed out of the common roon, his broom over his shoulder, 'honestly, he's obsessed with success.'  
  
'What d'you mean?' Remus asked, picking at a scab on his elbow, making it bleed.  
  
Lily lowered her book and rolled her eyes. 'All he ever does is practice quidditch, and show off how good a wizard he is.'  
  
Sirius-who agreed wholeheartedly, but couldn't bring himself to admit it- stuck up for his friend. 'He's not practicing quidditch just for himself, y'know. If Gryffindor win the cup, we'll all be happy. And why can't he be pleased that he's so good at magic? I know I would be, if I were in his shoes.'  
  
'No you wouldn't', Eva Cleansweep argued, 'you're too nice.'  
  
Sirius felt himself going bright red. 'No I'm not', he mumbled, staring fiercely at the ceiling.  
  
Peter chuckled. 'James'll get over himself before long', he stated, 'people always do. My Mum always says pride comes before a fall.'  
  
Sirius jerked around and stared at Peter. 'You mean something by that, Peter?' He asked sharply.  
  
Peter looked shocked. 'N-no Sirius! I j-just mean, m-maybe James'll r- realise he's being a bit...cocky.'  
  
'Hmmm.' Sirius wasn't at all convinced. He had not liked the tone in Peter's voice. It had been unpleasant...almost hopeful.  
  
'James is just...James', he blurted out, 'that's the way he is.'  
  
'That's a strong argument you've got there, Sirius', Jed (who had been listening to all this) commented sarcastically.  
  
'I'm going to bed.' Sirius said suddenly. He leapt up and stormed across the room, feeling furious, because he knew all of them were right: James was selfish, and cocky, and was going to find that out the hard way. And Peter...  
  
Peter was an enigma. Sirius never knew what to think about the remarks Peter made-half the time, he seemed to be eager to join in and be a good friend. The other half, he stood sulkily in the background, watching and listening to James, Sirius and Remus, taking everything in, but never speaking. Sirius especially hated the fact that Peter had spoken out against James too. And he was right.  
  
Sirius took James' invisibility cloak from his trunk, and crept out of the common room, not wanting to be drawn into conversation. When he had reached the Entrance Hall, he took off the cloak, and sat on the steps outside, waiting for James to finish practice.  
  
'Hey Sirius!' Adam called, as the quidditch team began to head back to the castle at last, 'what're you lurking around out here for?'  
  
'Waiting for James', Sirius called back, standing up, and sauntering down the steps.  
  
'Oi! Seeker!' Adam shouted over his shoulder, 'Black's waiting for you.'  
  
'Coming!' James replied, jogging to catch up with the others, 'sorry Sirius, I was just doing a bit of extra practice. What's up?'  
  
Sirius hung back, to allow the rest of the team to pass him. When they had all gone inside, he turned to his friend, and took a deep breath.  
  
'They're all talking about you.' He informed James.  
  
'Who's "they"?' James asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
'Lily. Eva. Peter. Jed.' Sirius was beginning to wonder whether this was a good idea after all.  
  
'What're they saying?' James was frowning now.  
  
'It's just...well...you're...lately...you've been spending all your time practicing quidditch and magic.' Sirius finished at last.  
  
'So?' James stared at him blankly.  
  
Sirius decided to try a different approach. 'Have you noticed anything about Remus lately?' He asked casually.  
  
James looked perplexed, and shrugged. 'Just the usual. He's pale and looks sort of sick.'  
  
'You didn't notice all the cuts and bruises? Or the limp? Or the fact that he disappeared for three nights in a row in October and November?' Sirius asked incredulously.  
  
'His mother's sick', James responded, 'dunno about the cuts and bruises. Where'd he say he got them?'  
  
'He fell down the stairs. Many times.' Sirius replied sceptically.  
  
'Well, there you go then. Come on, mate, it's freezing out here!' James made to go inside, but Sirius stopped him.  
  
'You know, for someone so clever, you're awfully slow.' He said quietly, watching James.  
  
'What's that supposed to mean?' James demanded to know.  
  
And Sirius exploded.  
  
'It's suits you to believe his mother's sick, and that he keeps falling down the stairs, doesn't it?' He accused, 'You're so busy with your own life that you've got no time or thought left for anyone else!'  
  
'Oh!' James shouted, 'so you were talking about me behind my back as well, were you? You agree with them all, don't you?'  
  
'Yeah', Sirius replied, 'I do.'  
  
'Some friend you are', James spat, glaring at Sirius.  
  
'I stood up for you, James', Sirius cried, 'I stood up for you when Remus didn't say a word, and Peter just sneered. I stood up for you-God knows why, but I did. I'm telling you so you can stop behaving like an idiot and take a look around you for once. Yeah, we know, you're brilliant at quidditch. Sure, you're top of every class. But you don't need to rub everyone else's noses in it. I'm not above a bit of boasting myself, but you've taken it to a whole new level.'  
  
'If you hate me so much, why d'you even bother to talk to me?' James shouted, 'get lost Sirius! You're just a jealous, whining troublemaker. Everyone thought you'd be in Slytherin, but even Slytherin didn't want you.'  
  
James' last words stung Sirius deeply. He took a step back, as though James had just aimed a blow at him. James himself realised he had gone too far. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again defiantly.  
  
Sirius let the invisibility cloak fall from his fingers. Without even glancing at James, his head bowed, he walked into the school, and up the stairs.  
  
'Sirius wait!' James found his voice at last, 'I didn't mean it!'  
  
Sirius could not even bring himself to reply. He just stopped, and gazed down at the boy who had been his best friend, then trudged on up the stairs, to the common room.  
  
Now, all the faces that glanced up when he came in, appeared to be unfriendly. Their stares were accusing, their expressions sneering. They're probably still wondering why they had to stuck with me, Sirius thought miserably. He heard Remus calling him, but ignored him. Silently, he opened the door to his dormitory, walked over to his bed, drew the hangings around himself, and lay down.  
  
He was confused, hurt and angry. Hot tears threatened to spring from his eyes, but he fought to keep them back. Bad enough that he was a reject, without being a crybaby as well.  
  
He heard someone come in a few minutes later; it was James. He stood uncertainly outside the hangings, unsure as to what to do.  
  
'Sirius?' He hissed, 'are you awake?'  
  
Sirius made no reply. After a moment, he heard James get into bed. Everything was silent once more, and Sirius thought miserably that maybe he would have been better off never coming to Hogwarts-at least that way, he would never have thought he had friends-he could still have been Sirius Black-the odd one out in the family, but proud of it. Now, he was Sirius Black, rejected by everyone. And he did not like it at all. 


	14. Making Up

'Sirius!'  
  
Sirius kept on walking, towards the Great Hall. James was close on his heels, shouting his name at the top of his voice, making everyone stare. But Sirius didn't care. Sirius didn't care about anything this morning. As far as he was concerned, from now on, the only reason he was at Hogwarts was to learn how to be a wizard, so he get a job and get away from all the people he knew as soon as possible.  
  
'Sirius! Stop it, c'mon, at least let me know you're not gone deaf!' James darted in front of his friend, and began walking backwards, waving his hands in front of Sirius' face. Sirius stared grimly at a point somewhere over James' shoulder, and sped up, so James had to get out of the way.  
  
Sirius sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table nearest to the staff. James sat down beside him, but he pretended not to notice. Four days had gone by, and Sirius had refused to speak to James at all. In fact, he spoke as little as possible to anyone.  
  
'Pleeeeeease!' James lowered his voice to a whisper, not wanting the teachers to hear, 'I'm sorry Sirius. I was mad at you, but I know I shouldn't've said that stuff. C'mon can't you forget about it?'  
  
Sirius shot James a withering look, then continued to butter his toast. James groaned, and banged his head off the table.  
  
'What's up?' Remus asked interestedly, sitting down opposite Sirius and stealing a sausage from his plate.  
  
James looked at Sirius, expecting him to answer. 'Oh', he said after a few seconds, looking taken aback. 'So...you're still not talking to anyone?'  
  
'Why? Would that make you feel better?' Sirius said, not looking at either of the boys.  
  
'N...no', James seemed uncertain as to what to say, 'is...this because of what I said?'  
  
'Yes', Sirius answered shortly, 'if nobody wants to talk to me, I'm not going to inflict my company on them. Go eat with your little friend Peter. I'm sure he'll be delighted.'  
  
'Hey! What have I done?' Remus exclaimed indignantly. remus, who had spent a few days in the hospital wing, had no idea what was happening.  
  
'Nothing', Sirius replied coldly, 'I just don't want to keep forcing you to pretend you get on with me.'  
  
Remus wrinkled his nose, and looked at James, completely nonplussed. 'You're one of my mates', he answered simply, still looking puzzled, 'I'm not pretending to get on with you. James, what did you say to him?'  
  
James didn't reply. He sighed heavily, and glanced sideways at Sirius, who ignored him.  
  
'Be like that then', he said loudly, pushing back his chair rather violently, and marching out of the Great Hall.  
  
'Ooh, has ickle Sirius had a row with his big-headed friend?' Bellatrix crowed from the next table.  
  
Sirius couldn't control himself. Bellatrix's taunt was the final straw. He pulled out his wand, shook Remus' restraining hand off, and aimed a Boiling Jinx at his cousin's bowl of porridge. The grey, gluey substance began to steam and huge bubbles appeared on its surface, bursting seconds later, creating showers of hot liquid. Bellatrix leapt out of her seat screeching, as one bubble burst all over her face. Sirius did not make the slightest attempt to hide his wand, as Professor Grappenhall stormed down to him from the staff table.  
  
'You odious excuse for a wizard!' She said coldly, 'detention, and twenty points from Gryffindor. Malfoy, escort Miss Black to the hospital wing, she'll need some curing after the burns her cousin has inflicted on her.  
  
'I hope it hurts!' Sirius bellowed after Bellatrix and Malfoy, anger preventing him from thinking clearly, 'I hope it REALLY REALLY HURTS!'  
  
'Another twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr Black', Grappenhall continued silkily, 'now, run along to Professor MacGonagall's office, and tell her what you did. She hasn't arrived for breakfast yet.'  
  
'No, I won't!' Sirius glared furiously at the teacher, and barely prevented himself from aiming a curse at her, 'everyone just thinks they can tell me what to do, and say whatever they damn well want! Well not anymore!'  
  
The whole school was staring at him. Sirius knew Professor Dumbledore was gazing at him steadily, willing him to glance over. But he wouldn't. Instead, he took pleasure in kicking over his chair, onto Professor Grappenhall's foot, and running out of the hall.  
  
'Stop that boy!' Screamed the teacher. The whole school burst into an uproar. Half the Slytherins leapt up and made to race after Sirius, while the other three houses gasped, laughed or remained speechless over the behaviour of what was now thought to have been an insane first year.  
  
'Silence!'  
  
Professor Dumbledore was standing now, his hand raised, calling for silence. The noise subsided, and everybody turned to gaze at the headmaster. Only two people stood up, and raised their hands timidly, asking for permission to speak. Dumbledore knew what they wanted before they even said it.  
  
'Yes.' He said calmly and kindly, nodding at the two seventh year Gryffindors. 'Thank you, Molly and Arthur. See to Mr Black. Everyone else, return to your breakfast. And Molly! Tell Mr Black he doesn't have to see Professor MacGonagall. That will be all.'  
  
Another round of shocked whispers followed this, as Molly and Arthur left the room. 'Did you hear that?' Peter Pettigrew hissed at anyone who would listen, 'Dumbledore just undermined Grappenhall-in front of everyone!'  
  
Sirius was sitting next to the lake, his arms wrapped around his knees, chewing the sleeve of his robes. He had no intention of returning to the castle for Defence Against the Dark Arts. His wild temper had subsided by now, but it was still hovering very close to the surface. He found a quill in his pocket, and stabbed it viciously into the bark of the tree beside him.  
  
'Shouldn't be damaging the tree like that, y'know. It's school property.'  
  
Sirius stood up hurriedly and turned to face the speaker. He found himself looking at Molly Cauldwell and Arthur Weasley, the Gryffindor prefects. Arthur was smiling rather nervously, while Molly wore a disapproving frown.  
  
'Whatever you're going to say, just don't.' Sirius said sharply, turning away again, 'I don't want to stay here anymore.'  
  
'What did James say to you?' Molly asked, somewhat more gently than Sirius had thought she would.  
  
Sirius was surprised. 'How did you know this had anything to do with James?'  
  
Molly sighed impatiently. 'I'm not stupid, Black', she replied, 'I saw him marching out of breakfast this morning. And then Bellatrix said something about him being full of himself, and...'  
  
'You went nuts', Arthur finished, grinning. Molly poked him savagely in the ribs, and his grin faded. 'Of course', he continued, a twinkle still in his eye, 'it was very wrong of you to do what you did to Miss Black. Even if she is a nosy, irritating, sneering cow with a voice like a foghorn.'  
  
Molly rolled her eyes. 'Anyway, Sirius, Professor Dumbledore says you needn't go to Professor MacGonagall, so I don't think you're in any serious trouble.'  
  
Sirius was stunned. 'How'd I get off so lightly?' He asked, puzzled.  
  
Arthur shrugged. 'I s'pose Dumbledore must like ya. Just be thankful he let you off. MacGonagall would've gone berserk! But seriously, Sirius, you know the Slytherins will all be after your blood for this. You've got to control that temper of yours!'  
  
Sirius was feeling calmer already. Just knowing that Professor Dumbledore was on his side made his heart feel lighter. Then he remembered James, and scowled.  
  
'Nobody wants me here anyway', he mumbled, 'I might be better off at home.'  
  
Molly gave a derisive snort. 'At home?' She cried, 'your home, y'mean? Sirius, no offence, but nobody would be better off in your home than at Hogwarts. Whatever James said, just get over it, and make up. I'm sure he didn't mean it.'  
  
'You didn't hear what he said', Sirius muttered darkly.  
  
In the end, he gave in, and followed Molly and Arthur back to the castle. They brought him right up to Professor Grappenhall's classroom, to ensure he wouldn't run away again.  
  
'You'll have to face her some time', Molly whispered sensibly, 'may as well get it over with.'  
  
'Yeah right', Sirius breathed, and walked into the classroom.  
  
Professor Grappenhall spun around, and glared at him. 'Well, Mr Black', she fumed, 'I'm delighted to see that you've joined us. What have you got to say about your disgraceful behaviour this morning.'  
  
'I'm sorry I knocked the chair over', Sirius answered sullenly.  
  
'And?' Professor Grappenhall growled.  
  
'And I'm sorry I yelled at you.'  
  
'AND?'  
  
Sirius shrugged. Everyone was staring at him. Snape had a look of delight on his face. 'I'm not sorry for what I did to Bellatrix, if that's what you want me to say.'  
  
There was a sharp intake of breath around the classroom. Sirius licked his lips nervously. She couldn't make him feel worse than he already did, so he had nothing to fear.  
  
'You can't make me be sorry', he added quickly, before the teacher could speak, 'it's not against the ruls not to be sorry for hurting someone. And I'm already being punished for what I did. My whole house is.'  
  
'Still', Grappenhall retorted, 'another two weeks of detention won't do you any harm. Teach you to respect your elders and superiors. Bellatrix and I are both older and superior to you. Actually, three weeks. An extra one for your refusal to apologise, because, Mr Black, like it or not, I have the power to punish you for that.'  
  
'That's not fair!' James stood up suddenly, looking defiant, 'you can't do that to him! The only reason...I mean...he would never have done that if...three weeks! Professor, you can't do that!'  
  
There was a murmur of assent from the other Gryffindors, and angry hisses from the Slytherins. Sirius ignored everyone, except James. He met his friend's eye for the first time in several days. James' expression was so anxious and upset that Sirius couldn't keep it up any longer.  
  
'Sit down James', he said quietly, 'she can do whatever she wants and she knows it. Thanks.'  
  
He smiled gratefully, and James grinned, delighted.  
  
'At least one of you has some sense', Grappenhall commented stiffly, 'Potter, you can have a week's worth of detentions for your remarks. Take a seat, Black, and open your book to page sixty nine.'  
  
'Thanks, James', Sirius whispered, taking a seat next to James.  
  
'No problem. What are friends for?' James smiled and gave Sirius the thumb's up.  
  
Sirius and James never fought over anything again. 


End file.
